About

Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa

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The International Library of African Music (ILAM) is an organization dedicated to the preservation and study of African music. It is seated in Grahamstown, South Africa and is closely affiliated with Rhodes University.

ILAM is particularly known for its study of the lamellophone mbira of Zimbabwe and Mozambique, as well as the Chopi people's Timbila, a variant of the marimba from southern Mozambique.

ILAM was founded by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey in 1954. ILAM published the African Music Society Journal, now known as the Journal of the International Library of African Music. ILAM was initially located in Msaho (near Roodepoort, Gauteng). When Hugh Tracey died in 1977, his son Andrew Tracey took over as director. Private funding had dried up, but Rhodes University agreed to host ILAM, and both ILAM and AMI moved to Grahamstown in 1978. Andrew Tracey served as director until 2005. The current director is Diane Thram.